Xavier Ighorodje

Xavier Ighorodje's career began with a challenging year in 2014, where he started a fashion brand customizing shirts and hoodies before getting his first major break writing a TV film. This led to a mentorship that kickstarted his journey into writers’ rooms and story development for a 260-episode telenovela. He grew within the system, earning a steady living and building a profile as a writer for cinema, also using funds to establish his production company, THE OGBONO. An award-winning Nigerian-born screenwriter and producer, he resides in both Canada and Nigeria. He is the creator and head writer of the Netflix hit TV series 'SHANTY TOWN', which was the second most-watched Netflix African Original TV series on the continent and the most-watched in Nigeria as of July 2023, with over 20 million views. 'SHANTY TOWN' was also the most nominated TV series at the 9th Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award that year. With over 5000 minutes of primetime African TV writing to his credit, he has created, head-written, or story-edited 70,000 minutes of story on primetime Nigerian TV, including nearly all of MNET’s Africa Magic Showcase’s hit telenovela series. To move beyond being just a writer-for-hire and ensure the creative integrity of his work, he pivoted into show running, taking a pay cut to showrun a TV show he created and head-wrote. He later self-funded a five-part TV show, 'THE ANATOMY OF A PREDATOR', using these experiences to enter the industry of full-time commissioned works by West Africa's biggest TV network.